The Spanish capital fund, BeHappy Investments, has made an investment worth almost €1,300,000 divided into two projects: HarBest Market and Huntycontinuing with its objective of supporting sustainable initiatives that benefit the primary sector and that promote employability in emptied Spain.
Specifically, BeHappy Investments has contributed €1,000,000 -in joint venture with the R-foodlution vehicle of fellow partner José Luís Nieto- to the Madrid platform HarBest Market, a B2B marketplace that allows restaurants buy products directly from producers more competitively by eliminating intermediaries; and €288,000 in the La Rioja startup Hunty, a platform for search, compare and hire the best hunting experiences, both nationally and internationally.
Both investments have been made through convertible notes (also known as convertible loans), a short-term financing instrument that implies a reserve in favor of the investor to convert the capital contributed into shares of the company. In this sense, investments in HarBest Market and Hunty correspond to 8% and 5% of the companies respectively.
Miguel Angel Rodriguez Cavedaco-founder and CEO of BeHappy Investments, explains that “One of the decisive factors when investing in these companies was that their business models were aligned with our investment philosophy. In the case of Hunty, his activity facilitates the regulation of the ecosystem, promotes the conservation of flora and fauna and generates employability in the rural environment; and in the case of HarBest Market, they have a deep ecological awareness and their activity significantly reduces the carbon footprint in addition to supporting the rural ecosystem by establishing employment in the places of production”.
Jose Luis Nietofounder and CEO of R-foodlution, a Spanish capital fund to operate in food markets with high growth potential and local added value, indicates that “We are convinced that investment in HarBest Market is the model to follow in the primary sector, linking with distribution chains and generating significant additional benefit for customers, producers and employment in a sustainable way in the digital transformation process in which the sector agriculture is one step behind others”.
Hunting and foodtech, two sectors in transformation
Spain is currently one of the main hunting markets worldwide. There are almost a million licensed hunters, ranking as the second most practiced sport in the country. In fact, hunting moves 6,500 million euros a year (0.3% of GDP). In this sense, from Hunty they are bringing hunting closer to large cities, which generates tourism from the city to the countryside and, consequently, positively impacting rural economies, promoting employment in them and thus combating rural depopulation.
From Hunty, they explain that “This capital injection will allow us to develop technology to automate processes and continue growing efficiently. In 2023 we will establish entry barriers in the national market to consolidate ourselves as the leading platform in search and contracting of game. We want to reach all corners of Spain, thus helping local hunting organizers to offer their hunts and attract new clients. Our goal is to promote hunting tourism and combat rural depopulation. At the same time, we have started internationalization with clients in 12 different countries; 2024 will be the year of expansion”.
On the other hand, according to the latest report on food consumption in Spain, extra-domestic consumption has increased in terms of billing by 23.2% compared to 2020. In this sense, HarBest Market works with a very short supply chain, which implies savings of between 20% and 30% for restaurants and, simultaneously, they also reduce kilometers by saving 28% tons of CO2 and 25% food waste.
Álvaro Pérez, CEO of HarBest Market, emphasizes that “The support of BeHappy Investments will help us grow our network of producers in other food verticals and consolidate our business in the cities where we operate, Madrid and Barcelona. In addition, the partners of the fund will accompany us in the implementation of the company’s internationalization plan for 2024”.
